The oddity of having Christmas and New Year’s Day on Sunday provided extended market breaks at both the beginning and end of this past trading week. 2016 New Crop Soybean Cash Market price rose 23 cents between the December 22 close for Christmas and the market reopening on this past Tuesday. The statewide average to open the short week was $10.09, but price moved lower each trading day to the Thursday early closing average of $9.97, an overall gain of 11 cents from the pre-Christmas close (Figure 1). Twelve markets provided quotes each day and Pine Bluff resumed reporting on Thursday. High daily individual market price for the abbreviated week occurred on Tuesday with Helena at $10.34. Low quote for the short week was $9.68 at Wynne on Thursday. End-of-the-week reported quotes saw closing day prices ranging from the $9.68 low at Wynne to a high of $10.22 at Helena. These ending quotes represented a range of 54 cents, a 7 cent widening compared to the previous week closing spread.

The 2017 New Crop Soybean Cash Market Booking quotes rose 16 cents over the extended Christmas weekend and opened this past Tuesday at a $9.92 statewide average. The 2017 crop market followed the 2016 crop price lower throughout the week and closed on Thursday at a statewide average of $9.83. The Thursday closing statewide average represented an overall 7 cent gain from the pre-Christmas closing average (Figure 2).

High daily individual market price of the past short week was on Tuesday with $10.13 reported at Helena. Low quote for the week was $9.67 at Jonesboro on Thursday. End-of-the-week quotes saw closing prices ranging from the $9.67 low at Jonesboro to a high of $10.04 at Helena, the only individual market to close the year above $10.00. The ending quotes represented a range of 37 cents, a 2 cent expansion of the pre-Christmas closing range. Eleven markets finished the week actively reporting prices with Pine Bluff only providing a quote on Thursday this week.